By Dan Wiederer, Star Tribune (Minneapolis) –
MANKATO, Minn. — The Great Mankato Seafood Scare of 2012 has passed.
A day after suffering an allergic food reaction, presumably to his lunchtime jambalaya, Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was back in good health and good spirits Tuesday.
During afternoon practice at Minnesota State University Mankato, Peterson went through a grueling on-field workout with strength and conditioning coach Tom Kanavy, hoisting dumbbells, performing several rope drills and running sprints.
(PHOTO: Minnesota Vikings’ Lex Hilliard, left, takes a hand off from teammate Joe Webb during practice at Minnesota State University, Mankato, Monday, July 30, 2012, in Mankato, Minnesota.)
A day earlier, Peterson had to be rushed to the hospital when his lunch in the cafeteria at Gage Hall triggered an emergency. Something in the jambalaya caused Peterson’s throat to itch then close. His face and eyes started swelling and his breathing became impaired too.
Quickly, Peterson made two calls to head athletic trainer Eric Sugarman.
Sugarman rushed to Peterson’s dorm room and stuck the running back with an EpiPen, helping Peterson’s breathing as the ambulance came to take him to the hospital.
“It was pretty scary. I must say that,” Peterson said. “But I didn’t panic. After that second phone call, I was getting ready to run downstairs and do something differently. But those guys came pretty fast. And we got everything under control.”
At the hospital, Peterson received an IV that, he said, included Benadryl and some other medicine to calm the reaction. Most puzzling to the Vikings star was that he had no known food allergies before Monday’s incident.
“I eat seafood all the time,” he said. “Crawfish. Crab legs. I don’t know exactly what was inside the jambalaya. But obviously my body reacted to it the wrong way.”
Peterson said he will undergo blood work and other testing in the coming weeks to try and identify the allergen that caused this week’s scare. He also vowed to avoid seafood for the time being, worried he might have developed a shellfish allergy out of the blue.
“I hope that’s not the case,” Peterson said. “Because I want to continue to eat seafood.”
This has been anything but a routine offseason for Peterson, who’s been out of action while attacking rehab for his surgically-repaired left knee.
In early July, Peterson also had a surprising legal run-in, arrested in Houston after an altercation with police at a nightclub.
This week, Peterson had the run-in with his lunch to deal with.
“How do I sum it up? Life, man,” Peterson said. “Life is full of ups and downs and it’s all about how you bounce back from it.”
As for Peterson’s lunch Tuesday?
“Hot dogs,” he said with a laugh. “And I’m going to stick to that.”
